Bronx Homeowner Cited as Roof, Porch Canopy Near Collapse Block Egress
The city's most severe violation class, reserved for conditions inspectors judge an immediate threat to life, was cited at a single owner-occupied home, not a multifamily or construction site.
A one-family house at 3210 Fenton Avenue in the Bronx now carries the city’s most severe building violation after inspectors found its roof caving in and its front porch canopy on the verge of collapse.
Why it matters
The city’s Environmental Control Board cited 3210 Fenton Avenue in the Bronx for a Class 1 violation, the most severe tier the Department of Buildings issues, reserved for conditions inspectors consider an immediate threat to life or safety. The violation describes a roof caving in and a front porch canopy in disrepair “in verge of collapse” at the building’s main exposure, a condition DOB’s inspector wrote was compromising egress, the path residents use to get out in an emergency.
Buildings records show the respondent, Charles J Hoffer, also listed as owner of the one-family house, a 1,280-square-foot home built in 1920 on a 2,050-square-foot lot. That distinguishes this case from the stream of Bronx collapse violations tied to larger rental buildings and absentee landlords this edition has tracked. Here the person cited is the person living there, and the exit blocked is the one a single household depends on.
The numbers
- Violation 39208048P, severity Class 1, issued and served October 15, 2026.
- $2,500 penalty imposed, balance due in full as of the city’s last update; status active, hearing pending.
- Cited code, 28-301.1, failure to maintain a building in a code-compliant manner.
- Property, BBL 2-04742-0032, BIN 2061018, one residential unit, built 1920.
What’s next
The case is scheduled for an OATH hearing on January 15, 2027, where the respondent can contest the violation or present a correction plan. Until the roof and porch canopy are repaired or replaced and DOB certifies the fix, the Class 1 designation stands and the egress hazard remains open on the city’s books. For other owners of the borough’s older one- and two-family stock, the case is a reminder that DOB treats a failing porch or roof the same as a failing fire escape when it blocks the way out, regardless of the building’s size or who holds the deed. It follows a similar Class 1 citation this month at 5992 Netherland Avenue, part of a run of Bronx collapse-risk violations tracked on the New York market hub.
On the record
Primary record
- Public recordCross-referencing BIN 2061018 / BBL 2-04742-0032 against NYC's PLUTO property file shows the cited address is a 1,280-square-foot, 1920-built one-family home with a single residential unit, and that owner Charles J Hoffer is listed as both the property's owner and the violation's respondent, confirming this is an owner-occupied house rather than a vacant or investor-held property.View the record on data.cityofnewyork.us
- NYC DOB ECB Violations (Open Data)ECB Violation Number 39208048P
- NYC DOB BISWEBECB Violation Lookup, BIN 2061018